Rhode Island Mall sold for $38M

RHODE ISLAND MALL'S new owners, Winstanley Enterprises and Surrey Equities, who bought the property for $38 million, plan to renovate the mall's interior and exterior to create spaces that "cater to anchor clients."

“There is a rich history with this property, and we are very excited to breathe new life into the development by putting together a plan that will once again position the mall as a vibrant part of Warwick’s retail hub,” Adam Winstanley, a principal of Winstanley Enterprises, said in prepared remarks.

Rhode Island Mall, which opened in 1967 as Midland Mall, formerly housed some big-named, now defunct department stores, including Filenes and Cherry & Webb. Currently, stand-alone retail space in the mall area is anchored by Sears, Walmart and Kohls. The interior mall portion of the property is 225,000 square feet.

Preliminary concept design work and permitting is scheduled to continue throughout the next six to nine months. A release said that while detailed plan and renderings are premature at this time, the development teams at Winstanley and Surrey plan to renovate the interior and exterior sections of the mall and hope to create larger tenant spaces that “cater to anchor tenants.”

“We look forward to working with the business and local community as well as city officials to create new jobs as this project moves forward,” Edward Silvera, president and principal of Surrey Equities, said in a statement. “We are eager to revitalize the vacant portion of the mall into a thriving retail space.”

The project is anticipated to create roughly 225 construction jobs in the city and about 150 permanent and part-time jobs once stores open.

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